London calling!

We made it to London! It is so nice to be back in the land of the English language. I keep having to stop myself from saying Bonjour, mercie, au revoir. I had gotten quite used to that in 3 days, but now we are back to the comfortable English.

Before we left Paris yesterday we visited the Luxembourg Gardens. It is very beautiful, and since the sun was out with not a cloud in the sky the gardens were full of sunbathers and families with children. The big fountain had little french boys and girls running around it with long poles to push their sailboats round and round. So cute. They also had little ponies and donkeys for the kids to ride, go karts they could race - all in all a fun place for kids to spend a warm and sunny day.

We decided to take a cab to the train station this time, didn't have the energy for the stairs in the Metro and the heavy luggage. We got to the train station an hour early but the French aren't good with providing directions. They never posted our track number, so Mandy went in search of information and discovered we were supposed to check in upstairs. By the time we got up there and got through immigration, customs, security (British security is very tight these days) our boarding was over and they wouldn't let us on. We only had to wait an hour for the next train so it wasn't too bad. 

When arriving in London we took a black cab (so cute!) to the hotel, mainly so we wouldn't have to wander looking for our hotel like we did in Paris. We are at the Harlingford Hotel, which is actually a B & B in a Georgian townhouse. It is cute, but the room is very basic. Looks a little like a dorm room. However it is very comfortable and cozy and clean, and the location is perfect. Our breakfast today was good, but apparently about 1/4 the size of the usual English breakfast. I think that is a good thing actually.

In a few minutes we are heading over to Mandy's flat and to see the sights on her end of town. Trafalger Square, Big Ben, Parliament, etc. And tonight we are going to the pub to watch a football (soccer) game with the crazy English fans. Can't wait!

Oh yeah, last night I had my first authentic British fish and chips in an Irish pub! Mandy had a steak and ale pie with mash.